


Five Years

by SecretRock



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Other, Role Reversal AU, Spoilers, bit of angst, had to change the archive warnings for this, inquisitor cere, jedi trilla
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-04
Updated: 2020-01-08
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:15:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21675874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SecretRock/pseuds/SecretRock
Summary: It had been five years since the Empire took over the galaxy. Five years since Order 66. The few survivors had their lives forever changed in ways they couldn't have even thought of before.Trilla Suduri was one of those survivors and it took her years to recover.Aka, a role reversal AU.
Comments: 14
Kudos: 40





	1. Trilla Suduri

It had been five years for Trilla Suduri. Five years since the purge; since her master had left her the cave, left her and the Younglings, and never returned.

Trill had tried to fight off the Imperials that had tracked them down, to give the Younglings in her care time to escape, but she’d barely survived her encounter with the Second Sister. Trilla had done as much as she could for them but, in the end, Trilla had to run. She knew some of them survived. She could feel their life through the force. The Imperials had left them to chase her. The knowledge that she’d saved those few was what kept her fighting afterwards. Not knowing what had become of them after she left was why she fought.

It had been three years since she’d tracked down some of Cere’s old seeker gear. Anything she could use to learn more, to feel closer to her old master. It had been three years since she’d found an old record of a planet called Bogano. She’d never heard of it before. Cere’s notes said no one had. So Trilla made a home there. Nothing permanent. Just a place to disappear to when she needed a rest.

Trilla had been intrigued by the planet. The animals were interesting even if they were aggressive. The ruins left behind hid so many answers she couldn’t quite reach. The feel of the planet, the way the force seemed to congregate around it, made her feel safe. With she help of a small droid, one that called itself BD-1, she uncovered some information. She found hidden workshops. Ways to cross the chasms that littered the planet and befriend the Binog. She learned of Eno Cordova and how he had been Cere’s master and his obsession with the Zeffo.

When she felt ready enough, Trilla followed BD-1 to what he called a Vault. There she found out about Eno Cordova’s vision of ruin. She had to fight down feelings of betrayal. Why hadn’t he warned the Jedi Order? Those Younglings, Cere, all the other dead Jedi, would they have survived if they had warning? But it was too late to ask those questions now. 

When Cordova mentioned a Holocron with a list of Force-Sensitive children, Trilla decided it was best to keep it where it was. She’d already failed one group of Younglings. She couldn’t bring herself fail another.

It had been one year since she started her quest in earnest. The Second Sister had been hunting Trilla since the purge but for the last year she seemed to have disappeared entirely. Trilla had dropped her guard. That’s when Second Sister struck. She led a battalion of Stormtroopers. Cut Trilla off from her ship, an old thing that wouldn’t have survived an escape attempt anyway. Second Sister could have had her shot down on the spot. Instead, she insisted on fighting Trilla herself.

Trilla had thought she was going to die. She was out of practise and no match for Second Sister in the first place. Second Sister had the skills of a full Jedi and even more power in the force. She parried every strike until she forced Trilla’s lightsaber from her hand. She advanced until Trilla lost her footing. She threw BD-1 to the side, losing the little droid in the surroundings. Trilla was ready to accept death.

Instead, she came face to face with Cere Junda. Her dead master. Her fallen master.

Trilla could barely face it. Cere had led the attack on her years ago. Cere had slaughtered the Younglings, the children, that were supposed to be in her care.

Cere didn’t strike her down. In fact, gave Trilla an offer: a place as an Inquisitor. She could work for the Empire. Be powerful. Hunt down Jedi. Kill them.

Trilla fled. She threw Cere’s offer back in her face and ran. She left her lightsaber. She left her ship. BD-1 found her as she hid, layered the force and the dark around her like blankets. It was a long time before Cere led parts of the battalion off to keep searching. Trilla felt the anger her rejection caused. The long wait was enough for her to realise a horrible truth: Cere knew about Bogano as well. The Holocron was within her reach. All those children. Trilla couldn’t let them get hurt because of her inaction. She had to get the Holocron before Cere realised it was there.

Trilla pulled herself from the cave she’d been hiding in. She had no weapon. She had no way off the planet. She had burning determination. No one would stand between her and that Holocron.


	2. Jaro Tapal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaro Tapal survived Order 66 despite the army on the ship with him. He landed on Bracca in an escape pod.
> 
> He didn't know where to go from there.

It had been five years for Jaro Tapal. Five years since Order 66; since his troopers turned on him with a single transmission, since he’d blown up the ship to cover the escape of him and Cal.

He left the ship a Jedi and landed on Bracca something less. He emerged from the escape pod with the broken body of Cal Kestis in his arms. He’d failed to protect his Padawan. The boy had relied on him for training and support and protection. Jaro had failed in all three. He’d always trusted the force to guide them to where they needed to be but now he didn’t understand it. He burned Cal on Bracca, gave the boy the Jedi funeral he deserved, and told himself he’d wait for contact before making his move.

It had been three years since Jaro had realised there were no orders coming. No plans to move to Ilum as a base of operations, no calls to action to take back Coruscant. The Jedi were gone. Jaro, one of the last Jedi in the galaxy, one of the last hopes against the Empire, was working a scrapping job for the Empire. The realisation shook him. It shook him enough to move him.

There was to be no more waiting Patience was something he preached but there was a difference between patience and stagnation. Staying on a planet for years and refusing to move on was not patience. So Jaro began to plan. Plan a way off this planet. Plan a way to find others who resist the Empire. Plan a way to help them. Jaro had spent years as a general before the purge. That knowledge had to be good for something.

So, he started saving his creds. Finding and stashing parts to fix an old X-Wing he’d found crashed by the cliffs. Transport off planet was too expensive for anyone except the incredibly lucky. Jaro wasn’t naïve enough to think it wasn’t by design. No one had considered a person desperate enough to “steal Empire property”. It took a long time but Jaro didn’t want to draw attention to himself too early. When he was ready to leave, he warned the few friends he’d made of what might come. He told them no details. Nothing that might get them in trouble. Nothing they could betray to the Empire.

Then he left.

It had been one year since he’d met another force user. Jaro had been travelling the galaxy. His X-Wing had been too broken and conspicuous for long-term use but he’d struck a deal with a Lateron pilot he’d helped out of a tight corner. He’d learned to slice Imperial transmissions. It helped in avoiding dangerous areas and finding groups that needed his help. Somehow, no one had figured it out yet.

People had started to recognise him when he showed up to help. It reminded him of the time before, even before the Clone Wars. Jedi had actually been seen as peacekeepers back then, not just glorified soldiers. They were happy to see them. People were happy to see a Jedi now. The only difference was that people were recognising Jaro Tapal, not just a Jedi Knight. It was both encouraging and saddening. He was making such an incredible difference but so few people were that he was known by name.

It only felt natural to help when he heard of an Inquisitorial squad tracking down a young Jedi. When he arrived, the fight was over. He feared he was too late, that he’d only find another body to burn or, even worse, they’d been taken to the fortress he’d heard horror stories about. But there were still Stormtroopers in the area. That gave him hope. It was validated when the young woman leapt from a cave near the group. She was unarmed aside from the force. It didn’t slow her down. Jaro entered the fray to prevent her from being injured.

It was during the fight that he realised she wasn’t a Jedi. Her form was rudimentary, her use of the force strong but unfocused. She was a Padawan. When he finally met her face to face he saw how young she was. Only a few years older than Cal would have been. At some point during the last few years, she’d lost her own master.

Jaro offered her a place on his ship, in his crew. She accepted on one condition.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update, school suddenly got busy. With the holidays here and family and all that, the next one might be a while too.  
> Thanks for reading!


	3. Duty and Resolve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trilla Sudri and Jaro Tapal, two of the last Jedi in the galaxy. One of the last hopes of the galaxy.
> 
> But Trilla has another mission to complete.

Trilla fit in well. She was driven and hardworking, willing to train with Jaro when he asked her to and putting her language skills and knowledge of the wider galaxy to use. Her other skills were a little less useful. Cere had been a seeker. Trilla had picked up a few other tricks from her, like negotiating with locals and over terrain. Those skills weren’t of high priority in the warzones they usually ended up in.  
And they still hadn’t gone to Zeffo. Trilla had told Jaro about the Holocron and he’d come to the same solution that she originally had: it was safest where it was. Trilla tried to argue but there was too much for Jaro to do. The Empire was targeting so many helpless planets. Jaro was already needed in a dozen places. His help was invaluable. Even Trilla had to admit that he was vital and he refused to be torn away from his work.

He used to be the same, Trilla had heard. Back when the Order was still around. She never met him in person back then but people talked about him. She felt she knew him well enough to be surprised when he took a Padawan. Some boy Trilla used to know from the creche. She only noticed that the boy wasn’t on the ship with them after she remembered him. Jaro never mentioned him. Trilla didn’t ask.  
She knew what it was like; she couldn’t mention Cere. Not what happened to her, at least. Even just thinking about it consumed Trilla with worry. And she knew it would probably convince Jaro that the Holocron was in danger but what could she say? The woman who taught her everything she knew, who had practically raised her, had fallen to the dark side? That would inspire confidence. All force users were already at risk, doubly so for them, and....

Trilla wouldn’t fall. She knew that. She didn’t know if Jaro would agree.

So more and more time passed. They didn’t near Zeffo and BD-1 was the only one Trilla could vent her frustrations too. He tried to keep a positive outlook but Trilla could tell he was just as anxious as her. But still, she fought alongside Jaro and rebel fighters and survivors. And she asked Jaro about Zeffo and the Holocron and Eno Cordova. Only when it was appropriate. Only when there was time to spare.

Every time she brought it up, she got the same answer: it was safer on Bogano.

It took a year for Trilla to snap.

Jaro was patient and wise and stubborn as anyone Trilla had ever met. A typhoon couldn’t move him. Trilla’s rage sent him flying into a wall. She restrained herself as soon as she felt the darkness but it was too late. The crew had stopped around her, some staring, some pretending not to. Even BD-1 was anxiously hopping from foot to foot. It all felt a galaxy away.

Maybe she would fall.

Jaro slowly got to his feet and the crew around them pretended to have not been staring. Trilla expected admonishment and rejection. Being told she had to leave, that she’s a danger. Instead, Jaro was calm. He guided her to a room away from the others without even a hint of anger. The door cut them off from the rest of the ship. He asked her what was wrong.

And Trilla told him everything. Cere disappeared. Trilla abandoning the younglings. Cere offering her a place as an Inquisitor. Could Cere really sense so much dark in her? Jaro listened. Completely silent. That was all he needed to do as Trilla spoke and spoke and realised. Realised she wasn’t frustrated, wasn’t angry, she was scared. Scared for the children and herself and for Cere. That made her more scared. She remembered what the old Jedi Masters said. She expected to hear it again from Jaro.

Instead, he sat down and told her that he understood. Emotions are natural, they’re unpredictable and can be hard to control. The trick was to not let them control you. To not let them decide what you do. Trilla sat too. She wasn’t sure if she could control these feelings.

But when Jaro said they were going to Zeffo, she felt the weight of them lighten.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've had to rework the chapter order a little and I think I was wrong with how many parts of this there's going to be. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and thank you for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> We don't find out much about Trilla pre-indoctrination, so I took a bit of liberty with what her personality might have been like. I wish that we'd had a chance to see her redemption more fully played out.  
> Anyway, thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed.


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